Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) Shares Climb 7.6% – What’s Next?

Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZG) shares rose 7.6% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $34.61 and last traded at $34.8730. Approximately 235,123 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 1,149,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ZG. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Zillow Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Zillow Group in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Zillow Group in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Zillow Group in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Zillow Group from $75.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Zillow Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.19.

Zillow Group Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.13. The company has a market cap of $7.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 159.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.02.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:ZG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The technology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $772.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $758.25 million. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 1.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Zillow Group, Inc. will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Zillow Group

In related news, CFO Jeremy Hofmann sold 5,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $193,492.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,021,541.92. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Dan Spaulding sold 3,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.37, for a total value of $112,087.53. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 44,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,576,122.57. The trade was a 6.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,539 shares of company stock worth $1,323,800. 29.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zillow Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in shares of Zillow Group by 1,290.7% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 95,959 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,010,000 after purchasing an additional 89,059 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Zillow Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,614,000. MFG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Zillow Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,146,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Zillow Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,546,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in Zillow Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,015,000. 20.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zillow Group Company Profile

Zillow Group, Inc is a digital real estate company that operates online marketplaces and technology platforms for consumers, real estate professionals, and other housing industry participants. Its services are designed to help people search for homes, understand property values, connect with agents, and manage transactions throughout the residential real estate process.

The company’s portfolio includes Zillow, Trulia, StreetEasy, HotPads, and ShowingTime+. Zillow provides home listings, estimated property values, rental information, agent connections, mortgage resources, and other housing-related tools.